Aaron Bushnell, 25, set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., on Sunday in protest of the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Talia Jane, an independent journalist, identified the protester on Sunday. Aaron Bushnell was an active-duty service member of the US Air Force, and as obtained from his LinkedIn profile, he worked in the IT sector. Talia Jane reported that Bushnell succumbed to the wounds sustained after he set himself on fire at night.
Soon after Bushnell lit the fire several men arrived to extinguish the fire, but to no avail. At 12:58 PM, the Washington DC Fire Department reported the incident at X. They stated that a man was transferred to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after setting himself on fire outside the embassy.
Initially, DC FEMS reported that an adult male had been transported to an area hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries, but neither the identity nor the updated condition of the individual were confirmed. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) mentioned investigating a suspicious vehicle nearby without finding any hazardous materials. Embassy spokesperson Tal Naim confirmed that there were no injuries among embassy personnel. The Secret Service, MPD, and ATF are jointly investigating the incident.
Spokespersons from the U.S. Air Force confirmed to CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post that the individual who self-immolated was an active-duty airman before his public identification. Department of Defense policy prohibits active-duty service members from engaging in partisan political activities or wearing uniforms during unofficial public events that might imply endorsement.
Who is Bushnell?
The individual, identified as Bushnell, was a DevOps engineer based in San Antonio, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile. Bushnell reportedly sent a message to media outlets prior to his planned self-immolation, expressing his extreme protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people. He allegedly live-streamed the act on X, which has since removed the video for guideline violations.
In the video posted by the journalist, Bushnell said, “I am an active-duty member of the US Air Force, and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people in Palestine have been experiencing at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all.”
During the incident, as Bushnell doused himself with liquid and reached for his lighter, unidentified law enforcement or security officers off-screen could be heard asking, “Can I help you?” After setting himself on fire, he repeatedly shouted, “Free Palestine.”
Past Incidents
Bushnell is not the first to engage in this extreme form of protest, or even the first to do so on this issue since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Bushnell is not the first to act in an extreme way to protest against Israel. In December, a protester set herself ablaze outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta. After the incident, the protester was left critically ill; however, her condition after the incident remains unknown. In 2011, Mohamed Bouzazi, a Tunisian street vendor, killed himself, setting in motion the infamous Arab Spring.
